VietNamNet Bridge – Grilled chicken legs are the favourite cuisine of many people, who don’t know that they could lose their lives to food poisoning.

Hanoi police have seized a dozen tonnes of illegal-imported chickens and pig entrails so far this year.

The Hanoi Market Control Agency has detected many cases of illegally-imported chicken legs and pig entrails, which were addled or very mouldy, being transported from Vietnam-China border provinces to Hanoi.

If they had not been seized, these things would have been processed into aromatic and eye-catching cuisine at restaurants in Hanoi.

Grilled chicken legs, chicken wings and pig stomach are favoured by many people. But anybody who saw how the food is processed would never dare approach these items again.

A reporter of Cong An Nhan Dan witnessed the processing procedures at a restaurant selling grilled chicken legs and wings in Hanoi. Mouldy, leaden chicken legs and wings were taken from nylon bags and washed in a big basin with some kinds of chemicals.

It is said that these chemicals make meat look fresh immediately after being washed, even though it might have been mouldy before.

They were then mixed with spices for flavour and grilled. The restaurant sold a chicken leg for VND2,000 and a wing for VND10,000. A restaurant like this sells grilled chicken legs and wings with non-origin chili sauce.

Besides chicken parts, grilled brisket and pig entrail soup are also very popular and these cuisines are processed from unsafe pig entrails imported illegally from China.

On May 12, Hanoi authorities seized a truck from the northern border province of Lang Son which was transporting 40kg of pig brisket and 576kg of pig entrails. The driver confessed that this batch of goods was illegally imported from China via the border gate in Lang Son. These things were very smelly and mouldy.

Traders not only import chicken legs and wings, but also old chickens from China. This kind of chicken is rejected by Chinese breeders since they cannot lay eggs and are sold to Vietnamese traders at very low prices. By the time they are seized, many chickens have died already.

It should be clarified that the H1N1 virus used in this study is a localstrain from 2005 with a haemagglutinin gene derived from classical swineH1N1 virus. Therefore whilst there may be some genetic characteristics inthis virus, with some similarity to the current emergent influenza (A) H1N1human virus, it is not the same. The study whilst of interest does confirmsymptoms and pathology consistent with numerous other published studiesusing this virus subtype in pigs.

WHO declines to assign severity scale-------------------------------------The World Health Organization (WHO) said today that it is unable to assigna severity scale to the influenza A (H1N1) epidemic for the reason thatdisease characteristics and responses of countries vary. Dr Sylvie Briand,with the WHO Global Influenza Programme, spoke today [13 May 2009] at amedia briefing in Geneva. According to Dr Briand, the WHO pandemic alertlevel phases are mainly based on the transmission of the virus and itsgeographical spread, while "the severity itself is assessed by othermeans." Currently, the pandemic alert level has remained at level 5 out of6, indicating community-based outbreaks in a single WHO region.

The severity of a potential pandemic is based on 3 factors: "the[characteristics of the] virus, the vulnerability of the population, andthe intervention we can put in place to reduce the impact of severedisease," Dr Briand said. Assessing severity is important for helpingcountries determine their response to an outbreak, but at a global level, aseverity index is "not very helpful" because "severity will vary from placeto place," she said. Dr Briand pointed out that while wealthier countriesmay have the resources to mount a more effective response to an outbreak,some developing parts of the world such as West Africa are already used tocoping with epidemics and may be at an advantage due to having healthcaresystems in place. This is referred to as the "resilience" of a country, shesaid.

Dr Briand also emphasized that oseltamivir and zanamivir are effectiveagainst this novel H1N1 strain, which is in contrast to the seasonalinfluenza strain, which is resistant to these antiviral drugs.

News reports are circulating regarding a claim by an eminent Australianinfluenza researcher that human error may have been involved in creatingthis strain. Adrian Gibbs, 75, said in an interview that he intends topublish a report suggesting the new strain may have accidentally evolved ineggs that scientists use to grow viruses and drugmakers use to makevaccines. WHO spokesperson Gregory Hartl said the WHO is looking intoevidence regarding these claims, but "it is way too soon to say anything."He added that the WHO's main task is to assess the current risk level andto "help member states to be prepared to respond."

Yesterday CDC issued a dispatch in the Morbidity and Mortality WeeklyReport on novel influenza A (H1N1) virus infections in pregnant women. Asof 10 May 2009, 20 probable or confirmed cases had been reported inpregnant women. Of the women, 3 have been hospitalized and 1 woman died.The CDC is recommending that pregnant women with confirmed, probable, orsuspected novel influenza A (H1N1) virus infection should receive antiviraltreatment for 5 days. Interim guidance on issues specific to pregnant womenand the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus is available at<http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/clinician_pregnant.htm>.

A preliminary estimation of the reproduction ratio for new influenzaA(H1N1) from the outbreak in in Mexico, March-April 2009----------------------------------------------------------------------------As of 12 May 2009, 5251 cases of the new influenza A(H1N1) have beenofficially reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from 30countries, with most of the identified cases exported from Mexico where alocal epidemic has been going on for the last 2 months. Sustainedhuman-to-human transmission is necessary to trigger influenza pandemic andestimating the reproduction ratio (average number of secondary cases perprimary case) is necessary for forecasting the spread of infection. We use2 methods to estimate the reproduction ratio from the epidemic curve inMexico using 3 plausible generation intervals (the time between primary andsecondary case infection). As expected, the reproduction ratio estimateswere highly sensitive to assumptions regarding the generation interval,which remains to be estimated for the current epidemic. Here, we suggestthat the reproduction ratio was less than 2.2 ­ 3.1 in Mexico, depending onthe generation interval. Monitoring and updating the reproduction ratioestimate as the epidemic spreads outside Mexico into different settingsshould remain a priority for assessing the situation and helping to planpublic health interventions.

Introduction------------As of 12 May 2009, 5251 cases of the new influenza A(H1N1) have beenofficially reported to WHO from 30 countries [1,2]. 2 parameters must beestimated for this new virus using mathematical and computational models:the reproduction ratio (R), which measures the average number of secondarycases per primary case; and the generation interval, which measures theaverage time between infection in a primary case and its secondary cases.The larger the reproduction ratio, the higher the required efficacy ofpublic health interventions [3]. Here we use 2 different methods to providepreliminary estimates of R for the outbreak in Mexico.

2 different approaches were used to estimate R:(1) M1 - intrinsic growth rate [5]: the growth rate of the epidemic isestimated by Poisson regression over a given time interval and transformedto R using Laplace transform of the generation interval distribution. Theassumptions are the exponential growth of the epidemic and known generationinterval. After visual inspection of the epidemic curve, all periodsstarting before 20 Apr 2009 and ending after this date, more than 5 dayslong, were explored. Goodness of fit of the exponential model was judged bythe deviance R­squared measure.(2) M2 - real time estimation [6]: a daily reproduction ratio R(t) isdetermined by averaging the number of secondary cases over all possiblechains of transmissions compatible with the epidemic curve. This approachassumes no imported cases, equiprobability of all chains of transmissioncompatible with the data and known generation interval. The 2 methodsrequire full specification of the generation interval distribution.

Results--------When using M1, the period starting on 9 Apr 2009 and ending on 24 Apr 2009yielded the best fit for exponential growth, with daily rate r = 0.30 [CI95per cent 0.28-0.34]. [The Epidemic curve of the outbreak of new influenzaA(H1N1) in Mexico and fitted exponential growth over the period 9 to 24 Apr2009 is illustrated as a figure in the original text]. The corresponding Rwas 2.2 [2.1, 2.4] for the PAN GI; 2.6 [2.4, 2.8] for the VIR GI; and 3.1[2.9, 3.5] for the ELV GI. Overall, the differences in goodness of fit weresmall. The reproduction ratio decreased as the duration of the period usedto estimate the growth rate increased: for the PAN GI, the maximum was 2.7(8 days) and the minimum 2.0 (17 days).

With method M2, all 3 generation intervals led to similar profiles of R(t)with time: R(t) was around 1 up to 8 Apr 2009 then increased rapidly duringthe 2 following weeks. [Estimates of the daily reproduction ratio R(t) inthe outbreak of new influenza A(H1N1) in Mexico is illustrated in the textby a figure]. The magnitude of R depended on the generation interval: themaximum value was 2.1 (18 April) for the PAN GI; 4.0 (11 April) for the VIRGI; and 3.2 (17 April) for the ELV GI.

[The epidemic growth rates estimated for the new influenza A(H1N1) epidemicin Mexico and corresponding reproduction ratio estimates calculated withmethod M1 are presented as a table in the original text.]

Discussion----------Obtaining timely estimates of the reproduction ratio is crucial fordeciding on public health interventions in case of a pandemic. In thisrespect, our analysis suggests that the maximum reproduction ratio was <2.2 (for PAN GI); < 2.6 (for VIR GI) and < 3.1 (for ELV GI) during theoutbreak in Mexico, subject to the following limitations.

Firstly, the epidemic curve was obtained by retrospective testing ofsamples, so that new cases may still be added. Indeed, for the same period(11 Mar 2009 to 26 Apr 2009), there were 97 confirmed cases in the reportpublished on 1 May 2009, 682 in the 5 May 2009 report, and 803 in the 8 May2009 report. With each new version of the epidemic curve, the reproductionratio estimates grew smaller. The increase in the epidemic curve coincidedwith the setup of enhanced surveillance (starting from 16 Apr 2009),suggesting improved case-finding with time. This notification/surveillancebias leads to overestimation of the reproduction ratio, as a larger numberof late cases would be attributed to fewer earlier cases; on the otherhand, however, the effect of public health interventions (closure ofschools, restaurants and other public places, etc.) may affect the resultsin the opposite direction.

The assumptions required to estimate the reproduction ratio must also betaken into account. As already mentioned, the generation interval isunknown for the outbreak in Mexico, but of major importance forquantitative estimates. This illustrates the importance of estimating assoon as possible the generation time distribution to calibrate estimates ofR [6]. As expected, longer generation time generally led to largerestimated R [3]. We believe the PAN GI should be favoured in theinterpretation of the results, as it was determined from household dataduring past influenza pandemics.

A 2nd limitation arises from arbitrary deciding which part of the epidemiccurve displayed exponential growth, namely a minimum duration (5 days), astarting and ending date. Stochastic variations, especially in small timeseries, may cause large uncertainties in the estimates [10]. Observing thatthe real time reproduction ratio M2, which does not rely on the exponentialgrowth assumption, yielded smaller reproduction ratio estimates, suggeststhat method M1 yielded upper bound estimates.

A comprehensive analysis of all available data has independently led to therange 1.4-1.6 for the reproduction ratio [11]. At least 2 factorscontribute to this substantially lower estimate: underreporting wasexplicitly taken into account and reduced the reproduction ratio, and thegeneration interval, estimated from the actual epidemic, seems to have beenmuch shorter than considered here (mean 1.9 days).

Although sensitive to all uncertainties discussed above, our earlyestimates show that the reproduction ratio in Mexico was in a range similarto that of past influenza pandemics [12,13].

[The estimate of the reproduction ratio arrived at by Boelle and colleaguesis somewhat higher than that of Fraser and colleagues reported previouslyin ProMED-mail (see: part [1] of Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (23)archived as 20090511.1764), but is in line with that observed in pastinfluenza virus pandemics. Further refinement of these analyses isessential and must remain a priority for assessing the epidemic situationand helping to plan public health interventions

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan is ordering schools closed in a port city after confirming its first case of swine flu caught inside the country.

Officials say a high school student in the port city of Kobe has tested positive for the virus. He had not traveled abroad recently. Preliminary tests show two other students at the school may also have tested positive.

All Kobe schools are being closed for seven days in an effort to prevent further spreading.

The confirmed case is Japan's fifth. The first four were students and a teacher who recently returned from a school trip to Canada.

Malaysia is also reporting another case of swine flu, in a woman who recently returned from the United States. It's Malaysia's second confirmed case.

And in the U.S., authorities in Texas are reporting the fifth U.S. death linked to the virus.

Medline Abstract Robert M Krug and James M AraminiTrends Pharmacol Sci, May 8, 2009; . Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Section of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.

The potential threat of a pandemic caused by H5N1 influenza A viruses has stimulated increased research on developing new antivirals against influenza A viruses. Current antivirals are directed against the M2 protein (named adamantanes) and the neuraminidase (named zanamivir and oseltamivir). However, both seasonal and H5N1 influenza A viruses have developed resistance to adamantanes and oseltamivir. Accordingly, new antivirals directed at the M2 and neuraminidase proteins, and against the hemagglutinin protein, are being developed. In addition, elucidation of the structural basis for several crucial functions of other viral proteins (specifically the non-structural NS1A protein, the nucleoprotein and the viral polymerase) has identified novel targets for the development of new antivirals. Here, we describe how functional and structural studies led to the discovery of these novel targets and also how structural information is facilitating the rational design of new drugs against previously identified targets.

Annual vaccination against seasonal influenza viruses is recommended for certain individuals that have a high risk for complications resulting from infection with these viruses. Recently it was recommended in a number of countries including the USA to vaccinate all healthy children between 6 and 59 months of age as well. However, vaccination of immunologically naïve subjects against seasonal influenza may prevent the induction of heterosubtypic immunity against potentially pandemic strains of an alternative subtype, otherwise induced by infection with the seasonal strains. Here we show in a mouse model that the induction of protective heterosubtypic immunity by infection with a human A/H3N2 influenza virus is prevented by effective vaccination against the A/H3N2 strain. Consequently, vaccinated mice were no longer protected against a lethal infection with an avian A/H5N1 influenza virus. As a result H3N2-vaccinated mice continued to loose body weight after A/H5N1 infection, had 100-fold higher lung virus titers on day 7 post infection and more severe histopathological changes than mice that were not protected by vaccination against A/H3N2 influenza. The lack of protection correlated with reduced virus-specific CD8+ T cell responses after A/H5N1 virus challenge infection. These findings may have implications for the general recommendation to vaccinate all healthy children against seasonal influenza in the light of the current pandemic threat caused by highly pathogenic avian A/H5N1 influenza viruses.

Taiwan will donate US$5 million worth of vaccines or medicine to the World Health Organization (WHO) this year to help it fight the swine flu outbreak, the nation's top health official said yesterday.

Yeh Ching-chuan, minister of the Department of Health, made the remarks prior to his departure later in the day for Geneva, where he will attend the annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA), scheduled for Monday to Friday.

The WHA is the highest decision-making body of the WHO.

Yeh said Premier Liu Chao-shiuan has directed local authorities to donate US$5 million worth of vaccines or medicines to help the WHO fight against the new flu, which in principle will be purchased in Taiwan.

But Yeh said Taiwan has yet to coordinate with the WHO Secretariat on the specifics of the donation and how it will be given to the WHO.

Liu also directed that Taiwan donate US$5 million a year in principle, Yeh said, adding that the DOH will also discuss the use of the annual donation with the WHO Secretariat.

Yeh will lead a 15-member delegation comprised of health officials and experts to attend the WHA meeting, marking the first time that the country has been allowed to participate in a meeting or activity of United Nations agencies since losing its U.N. membership to China in 1971.

This is also the first time Taiwan will be allowed to take part in the WHA as an observer after 12 failed attempts.

He said the government's stance on serving as an observer will be "give and take."

On the one hand, the government will donate US$5 million worth of vaccines or medicines to the WHO, but on the other hand, it will ask the WHO to reciprocate by assisting Taiwan in fighting swine flu, accredit the flu laboratory of the DOH's Centers for Disease Control, and help Taiwan's flu vaccine and pharmaceutical plants to meet WHO criteria.

Saturday, May 16, 2009 - 19:52Were the result of the sample taken from the child, Ahmed Abdel Hadi Abdo Bayadp Foreign Bhmyat positive Mahala died of bird flu, bringing the number of people infected with the disease to the case 71 and case No. 7 meeting Sunday attended by the village of Mit Allit Hashim Mahallah Center, and his mother went to the hospital to detect fevers Mahallah what was taken from the sample in the outpatient clinic and denied his mother at the beginning of the matter is that Mkhalt of the birds and their acknowledgment in writing that they themselves do not have any domestic birds.

When the sample was positive by the Commission from the Directorate of Health Hospital fevers Mahallah move to the child's home and challenged his father, who strongly call Mahalla police station, another sample was taken after he refused his father's actions were strongly second sample was called positive Mahalla police station to bring the child to the hospital admitted him for Mahala to the hospital, and then was summoned a second Mahallah Investigation Section to ensure the exit of the ambulance, which was quoted by the child to hospital in the capital Cairo.

The Directorate of Health took samples from his mother and father and sister and I found the samples were sent to labs central Ministry of Health with the extent of illness or not, as they Mkhataiwn birds within the home and keep their home despite the writing on the recognition of themselves for not raising them for the birds inside the house.

Kerdoun security has been imposed around the house and execution of domestic birds and the destruction of neighboring nests and the taking of samples from people with the extent of illness, whether or not to have been meeting Sunday attended by the health department on high alert, as it was the No. 7 to maintain a positive.

Having already died, including 3 of 4 of one family and a nurse from the Center for Zvty and a woman from the Center for Healing and Smonod two and this is the case in the seventh province of the West since the outbreak of the disease

Has become the talk about bird flu and swine flu epidemic to spread rapidly among humans nightmare haunts many officials began talking about the need to prevent any gatherings were, for example, there is talk about the vulnerability of the Hajj and Umrah season this year and also negatively, schools and universities

In the lake, for example, said the governor, Major General Mohammed Sharawi lake that in the case of avian bird flu pandemic, the plan includes maintaining the closure of all schools that have emerged out of any cases of infection, as well as the closure of schools in the affected areas and the conversion of some schools to hospitals and the opening evening at some schools to accommodate the students of other schools of all levels of education with the rapid isolation of students suspected of transporting the injured to hospitals equipped ambulances.

For his part, he said. Hissam-Attar, Head of the University of Banha to take decisive action in anticipation of the emergence of the disease is imperative, therefore, agreed with the Supreme Council of Universities, headed by Dr.. Hany Helal Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, to raise the alert as a precautionary measure to meet the swine flu virus.

It is the actions that have been taken in this regard to reduce the number of students in the stands, in Ptksimanm to groups of no more than the group of 200 students with the lectures several times to accommodate the students, noting that it was an emergency plan Bpinha university hospital.

As for the examinations have been scheduled to be held in time, as long as the disease did not enter Egypt, the more examinations were held at an early date, it is better than delayed in view of the likelihood of the emergence of the disease at any moment, adding that the conduct at this time is the right thing to do, and pointed out that the bird flu influenza disease has become endemic in Egypt, which requires him not to postpone the examinations.

Said Chalabi refused to Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, the principle of postponement of examinations or the end of the year held in the open in order to avoid the spread of swine flu among the students in the event of his appearance in Egypt.

Chalabi said that the examinations and certificates and the transfer and secondary, which began a week ago, the complexity of maintaining schools in their pre-defined according to the stated school schedules, and the number of students within the appropriate committees in excess of 20 students, and the commissions set by the Directorate with a good ventilation and supervision of the health teams of doctors health visitors and school, which means it does not need to move to places of examinations are open as long as no apparent disease.

He said. Abdo Said Nafie, Vice-President of the University of Alexandria (Damanhour Branch) had no intention to postpone the examinations this year and the university has taken action to preserve the safety of their children by preventing students from populations in closed areas, taking into account the administration of examinations at places of good ventilation to take into account the health and safety, as The university closed the closure of all places (poor ventilation).

He said, adding that the University has taken an active role in raising awareness of the dangers of the disease through the holding of several conferences and seminars in partnership with the Japanese side, as well as to explain what the subject of swine flu.

Ahmed El-Sawy and the Under-Directorate of Education Badakkhlip, there was no postponement of the examinations, whether or not transportation, and all will be on time and there is no postponement as a result of the presence of bird flu, as we emphasized the importance of the presence of ventilation in the examination rooms and doors and windows must be be open and the number of students ranges from 16 to 20 students and we have begun examination since May 9 did not show any cases Tlamiiv also maintain that the supervisor of each of the health to detect any case of a satisfactory compromise students.

He pointed to Mr. Abdul Karim everything that is the only natural way means we are raising awareness of citizens and hold seminars to develop awareness among the citizens to avoid crowded places, and focus on the work of associations of agricultural seminars attended by more than 600 people.

Learned that the seventh day from sources within the University of Mansoura, a tent had been the abolition of examinations for the Faculty of Law, and that nine of the more than five thousand students to sit for examinations have been distributed to the small classroom, were also strong on the hygiene and cleansing of these committees during the examinations.

On the same level, he said. Maher Jaber, President of the University of Minya has been the lifting of the emergency committees in preparation for the examinations last year, the interest and concern for the safety of students, saying that if the exams were postponed or canceled has not been the elimination of swine flu virus will enter the calculation in the screw and lost school year lost in vain, and every effort, and also warned students not to use bad behavior, especially the kissing in the peace process, especially after students return from a long absence from the university.

He emphasized that there are many preventive measures, including the performance of examinations in the presence of open spaces and distances between students and each other, Abdel-Karim and Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education has confirmed that the Directorate has prepared fully prepared to face any surprises in the performance of examinations and to emphasize the need for health visitors to maintain all the schools will not accept Directorate no excuses from any health visitor.

D said. Fozie Turkish president of the University of Kafr el-Sheikh that the University has copies (Albraichorat) have been distributed to teachers and students of the eight faculties of the university to warn them of the risk of bird flu and how to prevent them, and the numbers will be distributed to other students during the entrance exams for more awareness.

Chairman of the University during a meeting with deans of colleges need to provide practical and conceptual awareness for students to familiarize them with the disease so they had to be careful to protect themselves and their families to transfer the methods of prevention and awareness to them.

Turk added that the university does not intend to postpone the date of the theory examinations, which will begin on May 23 next, it has taken a number of preparations for the lack of any injuries among the students and university workers.

He added. Ibrahim Aman, the deputy president of the University of Kafr el-Sheikh that the preparations for the examinations to the university this year, more careful, especially with the emergence of cases of bird flu, the government, was the most important means of increasing awareness and places of examination committees and commissions to reduce the number of students so that there is adequate ventilation and chilled water distribution to students in plastic cups are used once to be executed immediately so as not to move any student awareness of the infection using tissues when sneezing so as not to spread the infection through droplets in addition to preventive action and urged the students to hygiene, with the commissions, including doctors and nurses administering doctor and an ambulance equipped with a special university for the transfer of any emergencies to the hospital.

Mohammed said the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Education in Kafr Sheikh examinations we have a natural transportation center of the airspace has not registered any cases of suspicion and we will complete the examination in time and we are warning parents and students of the temperature rises to detect so that there would be any flu cases, and we are keen to be the work of the high degree of cleanliness so that there are no epidemics of transmitting the disease.

HONG KONG, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Japan confirmed on Saturday its first domestic case of Influenza A/H1N1, while Malaysia confirmed a Malaysian women was infected with the new flu, the second in the country.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said on Saturday a 17-year-old male high school student in Kobe city, Hyogo Prefecture, who has no record of overseas travel, was confirmed to be infected with the H1N1 strain of influenza A virus.

The student's family members have shown no sign of symptoms of A/H1N1 flu infection.

It is the first confirmed case in the country after four patients were found infected at an airport after returning from the United States on May 8.

Two other senior high school students from the city -- one male and one female also with no record of overseas travel -- have also tested positive for the new flu in local laboratory tests, the Kobe municipal government said.

The government's health watchdog is analyzing the specimens taken from them at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo.

Malaysian Health Ministry's deputy director-general Ramlee Rahmat said on Saturday that a second Malaysian has been confirmed to be infected with the A /H1N1 flu virus at the Penang Hospital in northern Penang state.

The patient, a woman, was admitted to the Penang Hospital on Friday and the results were confirmed on Saturday morning, he said.

She was a friend of the first patient who was confirmed with the virus at the Sungai Buloh Hospital in central Selangor state on Friday, Ramlee said.

She was on the same flight with the first confirmed patient, a 21-year-old male student, who flew on Malaysia Airlines flight MH091 from New Jersey, the United States, to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) via Stockholm in Sweden.

Ramlee said the woman's family, as well as two other friends of the two infected, were put under home quarantine.

Both of them are now in stable condition, he said.

Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon announced on Saturday there were 28 people in Australia awaiting test results for A/H1N1flu.

"We do currently have a number of people, including a family, who have tested positive to influenza A," Roxon told reporters in Melbourne.

"We're likely to have the results of those (tests) either late tonight or first thing tomorrow morning," Australian Associated Press quoted the minister as saying.

In Singapore, the Health Ministry announced on Saturday that home quarantine order (HQO) was lifted for travelers to Singapore with a recent Mexican travel history.

The ministry said that it has reviewed the imposition of the HQO in light of new information on the Influenza A/H1N1 outbreak situation.

"The outbreak in Mexico appears to be cooling off with a fall in the number of new confirmed cases. The number of exported cases from Mexico has also fallen significantly," it said.

But the ministry said that HQO will still be issued to any person who is a known or suspected close contact of a probable or confirmed case of Influenza A/H1N1, adding that the country will continue with temperature screening for passengers entering Singapore at all land, sea and air checkpoints.

The Wiener family, along with parents and elected officials, questioned whether the city was responding quickly enough to flu clusters in their schools.

Mayor Bloomberg said the closings were handled on a school by school basis.

More schools could close before Monday, said teachers union president Randi Weingarten. Her staff received reports from 21 schools - including the three closed Friday - of a high number of student absences.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation warned on Friday against a false sense of security from waning and apparently mild outbreaks of H1N1 flu, saying the worst may not be over.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, who raised the United Nations agency's pandemic alert to the second-highest level, said there remained "great uncertainty" about the strain that could pose particular threats in Southeast Asia.

"We are meeting at a time of crisis that could have global implications," she told an intergovernmental meeting on pandemic preparedness at the WHO's Geneva headquarters.

The meeting is tackling the sensitive question of virus sharing, in which countries provide biological specimens to the international community for use by pharmaceutical companies and vaccine makers who are formulating jab ingredients.

At the height of fears about bird flu, Indonesia had refused to share H5N1 virus samples without guarantees that any vaccines developed from them would be made available to poorer countries at an affordable price.

GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, Baxter International and other pharmaceutical companies others are awaiting WHO guidance about whether to start mass-producing vaccines to fight H1N1, which may force them to cut production of seasonal flu shots.

Chan said she would make a recommendation soon about the appropriate balance between the types of jabs.

"We are moving on two tracks to ensure some security for seasonal vaccine and at the same time kick-starting early scientific work for pandemic vaccine," she told the session.

MILD SYMPTOMS

The WHO chief commended countries with H1N1 infections for their "timely sharing of samples for risk assessment and making seed vaccine," saying that starting point for larger production of jabs could be ready by the end of this month.

And another top official, acting WHO director-general Keiji Fukuda, said there had been "rapid, widespread sharing of specimens" to date.

Participants in the two-day WHO meeting are seeking to reach agreement on standards for transparency, trust, and sovereignty related to virus sample sharing, an issue that is also expected to dominate next week's annual World Health Assembly in Geneva.

"I hope the end result is something really balanced that we can use for a long time," Fukuda said.

-snip-But Chan stressed that important risks remain.

She said the WHO is closely watching parts of Southeast Asia that saw large outbreaks of H5N1 avian flu -- a virus that can be deadly when it passes from birds to humans, but has not spread easily between people to date.

A mixture of H5N1 and H1N1 viruses could have a big impact, she said, while stressing: "I am not saying it will happen."

ZURICH (Reuters) - World Health Organization said on Saturday that the number of confirmed human cases (H 1 to 1) new 8451 jumped to 66 wounded, including the case of the death.

The organization said that the States that have declared the emergence of cases of HIV infections is widely known as the swine flu rose to 36 after the state confirmed that Ecuador and Peru, the first cases in each.

Showed the vast majority of cases in Mexico and the United States.

And the payment of the spread of the disease to the WHO announcement that the epidemic has become imminent.

The organization raised in the 29 April state of alert in anticipation of the spread of the epidemic to the fifth grade on a scale of 6 degrees.

Said Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization on Friday said there was "considerable uncertainty" about the new strain continued to proliferate may constitute a particular risk in South-East Asia.

Then, U.S. health officials said later they were down they have adopted warnings against travel to Mexico.

And follow the behavior of the new virus strains of seasonal flu, which spread rapidly causing symptoms slightly sick people and most severe at the other.

Cause seasonal flu in the death of 500 thousand people annually, mostly the elderly and those suffering from respiratory problems such as asthma.

The organization reported that Mexico had declared 2895 as the emergence of the virus confirmed cases including 60 deaths.

The United States has about 4714 injured, including four deaths.

Canada confirmed a case of 496 in addition to the nine cases in Costa Rica and in the event of the death of each.

ISTANBUL - TURKEY identified its first two cases of the H1N1 flu in a married couple travelling to Iraq from the United States, health officials and local media said on Saturday.

A 26-year-old American man, travelling from the US via Amsterdam, was found to be suffering from the H1N1 virus after arriving at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport en route to Iraq on Friday, Turkish Health Minister Recep Akdag said at a press conference that was broadcast live.

Authorities later determined the man's wife was also infected with the H1N1 virus, the NTV television channel said, without saying how it obtained the information. The husband and wife had been quarantined along with other family members and were under observation at a Turkish research hospital, where they were being given anti-viral medication, Mr Akdag said.

Turkey, a major tourist destination, becomes at least the 37th country in the world to report an incident of swine flu. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday that 72 people have died from the disease or its complications.

The Iraqi-American family was travelling on a KLM aircraft to Istanbul that was carrying 163 passengers, most of whom are now being monitored for signs of the flu, said Mr Akdag.

The patients' family would be held in isolation at Istanbul's Haseki Hospital until May 21 to determine whether they too are suffering from swine flu, because the virus takes up to a week to manifest itself, Mr Akdag said.

'We know of the existence of a few (passengers) whom we've been unable to contact,' he added. 'They need to be alert so that they can be given preventative medicine and in order to protect others.'

Thermal cameras set up at the Istanbul airport had detected the man had a high fever, and tests at the national laboratory revealed he was carrying the H1N1 virus, Mr Akdag said.

His wife's infection was discovered after she submitted to testing at the hospital, NTV reported.

'Everything is under control,' Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told reporters when asked about the diagnosis of the country's first H1N1 case. 'Everything is being monitored closely.' -- REUTERS

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey and India confirmed their first cases of H1N1 flu on Saturday, all involving air passengers arriving from the United States.

Thirty-eight countries have now confirmed cases of the new flu strain, a mix of swine, human and avian viruses, which last month prompted the World Heath Organisation to raise its global pandemic alert level to 5 on a 6-point scale.

The western Japanese city of Kobe said it would close some public schools for a week after eight people were confirmed as being infected with the new H1N1 influenza, commonly known as swine flu.

Three of the eight were teenage students from the same school -- the first confirmed cases in Japan involving people who had not been overseas. The other five were from another school, Kyodo news agency said.

The WHO, whose data lags national tallies, had earlier put the number of confirmed worldwide cases at 8,451, with 72 deaths.

The vast majority of deaths -- 66 -- have been in Mexico, where the outbreak started. The United States has reported four, and Canada and Costa Rica one each.

FAMILY QUARANTINE

Turkey identified its first two cases in a married couple travelling to Iraq from the United States, health officials and local media said. Continued...

Bandung (ANTARA News) - After being confirmed as not carrying the swine flu H1N1 virus, ES (39), an airline co-pilot, was on Saturday discharged from Hasan Sadikin Hospital where he had been treated as a suspected swine flu sufferer.

"Based on the results of examinations by the Central Health Research and Development Agency, ES has been declared as suffering only from the common flu, not from swine flu that is caused by the Type A H1N1 virus. So today he has been allowed to return home," the chief of the team of doctors in charge of special infectious diseases at the hospital, Dr Hadi Jusuf, told ANTARA here on Saturday.

Hadi said to monitor ES`s health condition, the hospital had asked his family to continue watching over his health.

ES was referred to the hospital by a doctor at the local Husein Sastranegara airport on Tuesday, the team`s spokesman, Dr Primal Soedjana, said.

He said before being admitted to the hospital with suspected swine flu symptoms, ES had often traveled abroad , including to Singapore and Malaysia.

"His activities were marked by high mobility. He often traveled overseas and once had direct contact with a flu patient at one of the foreign airports," he said.

When he was examined he showed such symptoms as headache, running nose, sore throat, high fever and a quick heart beat, he said.(*)

The hospital has admitted the detention of Mohamed Ahmed Damanhour Ghalban (21 years - a working farm) and a resident Biitay powder, after suspected bird flu patients, where they showed severe symptoms of high fever and throat infection and lack of breathing and the pain of the bones, blood samples were taken from infected laboratory for examination.

And immediately was coordination with the Directorate of Preventive Medicine and Department of health and veterinary medicine, where they were the work of a campaign to clean up their homes with the surrounding houses and homes, as well as their contacts, and was taking a sample of the existing poultry house laboratory for examination.

A medical source said that the northern Sinai, the child developed symptoms of influenza during the entry of the crossing, which necessitated detention in hospital for a fever and tests to make sure flu from pigs or not, but the security instructions issued to deport the child directly to the Gaza Strip and prevent any other cases similar entry to Egypt.

Post #106: May 9th:Detained hospital admitted Tanta area and 4 new cases of suspected infected with bird flu, after the sense of high temperature and lack of breathing and severe bone pain, fevers, where the detention Mahallah Huda Abdul Rahim (27 years) from the village of Kafr Hegazy Center area and Mahmoud Mohamed Sabry two and a half from the village of monks Smonod Center.

Post #127: May 13th:The Mahalla and Tanta fevers, the detention of three new cases of suspected bird flu, with fevers held Mahala, Safiya Mohamed Suleiman (32 years old housewife),

Osama Farid Deputy Minister of Health Sheikh kaafirs for the transfer of 250 doctors, 491 doctors of the present General Hospital, Kafr El-Sheikh over the need for the hospital medical process, and distribution in the central hospitals to transfer a number of them, and the assignment of other rural health units, and the payments for the restoration of an equitable distribution of hospital, and the arrival of medical service for farmers in his village.

That decision came after an objection by the doctors of Kafr el-Sheikh for the transfer of 21 doctors from the General Hospital of Kafr el-Sheikh to the central hospitals across the province, through the General Association of public emergency the first Subcommittee on doctors, on Tuesday, headed by Dr..محمد فؤاد نقيب أطباء كفر الشيخ. Mohamed Fouad Al Doctors Syndicate.

وتم أخذ عينة دم من المرضى ومسحة حلق وإرسالها للمعامل المركزية بوزارة الصحة للتأكد من إصابتهم بالمرض من عدمه، كما تم إعطاؤهم عقار التايمفلو لحين وصول نتيجة العينات المأخوذة منهم.Blood samples were taken from patients and melancholy hours, and sent to labs central Ministry of Health to make sure whether the disease has also been given the drug Altaymflo until the arrival of the result of samples taken from them.